The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is a science fiction series as hard sci-fi as it can be. The three books — Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars — tell the story of humankind settling on Mars. Although the books were released in the nineties, the plot begins in 2026, making those who read them in our time wonder why we are not ready to colonise Mars yet.

The books are well researched, with plenty of Martian areology on display. Mars’s future unfolds throughout the multiple parallel tales and characters that form the plot: camps grow into cities, science advances, and culture evolves. Above all, the story focuses on the advances made on Mars while Earth suffers from overpopulation and ecological disaster. Most interestingly, Robinson takes social politics very seriously as science and culture interact while the story progresses: What if space genetics could extend life? What if an overpopulated Earth claims the lands on Mars? These and other questions get the reader thinking about life here on Earth, the uncertainty of the future, and the world we will leave to the coming generations. To put it in Robinson’s fictional character’s words: “Better to die thinking that you’re going to miss a golden age than to go out thinking that you’d left your descendants with all kinds of toxic long-term debts.”

The illustration is by artist William Bennett, who did plenty of Red Mars designs. Let’s have it!